Sunday at school

hi there

last Sunday saw us head off to school, but not as such for what one would call Sunday School. James' school was holding a fundraising fun day and, needless to say, of course we went along. well, not just us, but you shall see.

the word "fun" is of course open to interpretation. personally, getting up and doing a 1km walk at 8am on a Sunday is not usually what i would think of when asked to "define fun", but that's what we did. actually, it was a jolly nice stroll indeed.

such was the high level of focus i had on the actual walk part of it that i was unable, alas, to break off thoughts of being the ball and take pictures. i did, you may be pleased to know, manage to take pictures of the rest of the day.

those of you paying attention to the fabric woven by my words here will be fully aware that it was more than just the four of us who went along, something shown off for a start in this most excellent picture.




in the above James and William are flanking James' good friend Kyle. as the two go to different schools they are always looking for ways to get together and play, and what better means than this?

the two even took the time to stop running around for a while and have something to eat!




with the vast expanses of school fields before him it might well go without saying that William went on something of a rampage, perpetually wishing to run here, there and everywhere!




some of the others who went with us on Sunday can be seen in the above picture. at the side there is Cobain, a very good friend of Dylan (who will feature later). it is interesting that Cobain's parents were big enough fans of Nirvana to name their child after a member, but then selected only the 3rd most talented member of that band to use the name of. go figure.

otherwise, walking next to Michele that is indeed my dear, beloved mother-in-law Monica. she kindly came along to join us, even though she had some rather painful swollen feet. you can imagine how the idea of my mother-in-law being in pain and agony torments me.

moving on, and how about some more eating before we get to the running and jumping? whereas i enjoyed a rather fine chicken burger and a most splendid wors roll, the boys were thrilled to discover just how many sweets were on sale!




no, they perhaps should not have been eating sweets, sour glow worms or otherwise, so early on a Sunday. they had, however, been rather good and had done the whole walk, so why not indulge in a treat?

right, time for the true "fun". the school had set up quite a few things for entertainment, massive inflatable climbing things in particular. whereas there were a few of them meant for children of William's age and height, he was having none of them and insisted on going on the ones meant for the somewhat bigger boys.

this, of course, meant that Daddy needed to be on hand to give him a hand in getting to the top of them!




the hat that i am wearing is a genuine made in China one, bought at the impromptu flea market at the school as i had no idea where my usual one was. i think it looks rather stylish, and it could well find its way to the much anticipated gig by The Stone Roses later this year. that blue shirt too, now that i think of it.

William did so much running and jumping that it is beyond me to explain or understand how he didn't eventually just crash from being tired and sleep at some point. he just kept going and going!




that above picture has come out somewhat decent, which is a surprise since that's one of the ones here taken on my blueberry thing. go figure, it can take proper pictures when it feels like it!

onwards, then, and here are James and William contemplating which fun thing to do next!




earlier on i did promise that Dylan would feature here, and here he does, in the most spectacular of circumstances if i say so myself!




that's one of them "bucking bronco" bull ride things he is on. i was due to go on it myself, with the hope of me being thrown off it would serve as a sort of early birthday present for my dear mother-in-law. the ride, alas, attracted a lengthy queue and seemed to be a bit too slow to throw me off, so i gave it a miss. Dylan did very well on it, though!

back to climbing, and here is a most excellent picture of James, Kyle and William!




in those hats and striking that pose it looks very much like the boys are attempting to recreate the classic video for Move Any Mountain by The Shamen, or possibly one of the many ace videos by The Stone Roses or Ocean Colour Scene.

if i remember correctly Michele gets the credit for the next, high quality class action image!




wow! whether that was deliberate or a total fluke chance, what a great image of James showing how excellent he can jump off that inflatable thing!

the fun day ended around lunch day, but the boys remained full of energy. as Michele was somewhat exhausted, i took it upon myself to whisk the boys off to South Fork for a bit, in the hope that Michele could rest a bit and the boys might burn off some of the excess energy.

Grandad, as you may well expect, had a rather interest and somewhat unusual means of helping the boys reduce their energy levels.




yes, you are seeing right - that is Grandad feeding James and William as many Cadbury Creme Eggs as they can carry. Creme Eggs are, other than being tasty, known for being loaded with about as much sugar as you would find in an Alabama sugar plantation. at peak season, too. it may be no surprise, then, for you to learn that they didn't get as tired out at South Fork as i had hoped!

i trust that whatever you did last Sunday was just as excellent and fun!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!